Philadelphia Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies are currently the World Series champions and deserve the title. But in only a short time, the Phillies will have to defend their title against 29 other teams. It seems like it was only yesterday that they won the World Series, but sadly, it wasn't.

Chris Coste, the most lovable professional player in Philadelphia right now, might become the most lovable former Phillie within the next week or so. Coste, who is the man who fought his way to the major leagues to finally get a shot with the Phillies in 2006, received immortality status when the Phillies won the World Series last October.

I usually try to stay away from these kinds of articles but, after reading several "Greatest Team Ever" or "Best Team Ever" articles, I decided to write my own. Now, I know this I have only been around for 19 years on God's good green Earth so I do have a bit of bias towards today's players. But, all biases will be put aside and I will judge players based on career and other information.

Here’s the scoop: Cole Hamels left Clearwater, FL tonight for the Philadelphia area to have his left elbow examined tomorrow by team doctor Michael Ciccotti.

General Manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. said Hamels complained about “a little bit of a persistent soreness” in his elbow. “We thought it was important at this time for Dr. Ciccotti to check it out,” Amaro said.

Andy Martino is the new guy in town.  He’s beginning his first season on the Phillies beat for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Martino let me know a little more about himself in our interview, Sunday afternoon.

SHAY RODDY: Where are you coming from?  What jobs have you had in the past?
ANDY MARTINO: I last worked for the New York Daily News, where I covered most New York teams: Yankees, Mets, Giants, Jets, etc.  For three years before that, I was a high school teacher in Brooklyn.

Below is a preview of the Philadelphia Phillies' 2009 bullpen.  The pitchers are listed in the order in which they appear on the Phillies' official depth chart.

Brad Lidge 

Below is a preview of the Philadelphia Phillies' starting rotation, formatted to talk about each individual pitcher in the order in which they are listed on the Phillies' official depth chart. Without further adieu...

Since the dawn of Philadelphia sports in 1883 with the Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia has been blessed with great and Hall of Fame-caliber athletes.

Many of those athletes who have played for the Phillies are not well-known.

From the comically bad to the legendary in their own time, these 10 should bring to light more about the Phillies past players. So, after hours of tireless research and question asking... without further posturing, here are ten Philadelphia Phillies that you never knew about.

PIRATES 6, PHILLIES 5
at Clearwater, Fla.
Friday, March 13

Pirates on the mound

Left-hander Zach Duke threw the ball well in 3.2 innings. He allowed just one hit and one walk and struck out two. He got into a bases-loaded jam in the fourth after a leadoff single to Eric Bruntlett, a two-out walk to Ryan Howard, and an error from third baseman Andy LaRoche to load the bases, but left-hander David Davidson took over and got out of the inning without a run scoring. Daniel McCutchen allowed five runs in 1.1 innings.